General Growth Properties Inc., owner of Jordan Creek Town Center, announced late Sunday that it had switched bankruptcy counsel to Weil, Gotshal & Manges after parting ways with Sidley Austin LLP, Reuters reported. General Growth also is hiring another law firm, Kirkland & Ellis, as bankruptcy counsel for some of its subsidiaries. General Growth, which owns and manages more than 200 malls in the United States, is struggling to restructure or postpone payment on about $22 billion of debt over the next four years. The company has not formally filed for bankruptcy, but has warned it might need to do so if it cannot sell assets or win agreement on deadline extensions with its lenders.

Before 2008 ended, Wells Fargo & Co. completed its $12.7 billion purchase of Wachovia Corp. and Bank of America Corp. finalized its $19.4 billion acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc., the St. Louis Business Journal reported. Bank of America is the largest U.S. bank, with assets totaling $2.7 trillion, and Wells Fargo is the fourth-largest U.S. bank by assets. Wells Fargo said it expects $71.4 billion in write-downs from assets acquired from Wachovia. Bank of America has said it will cut 35,000 jobs over the next three years as it absorbs Merrill Lynch.

Waterford Wedgwood PLC, the maker of Waterford crystal, one of Ireland’s most famous brands, put out a statement this morning announcing it would call in a receiver, the British equivalent of bankruptcy, CNN reported. Receivership and administration are forms of bankruptcy protection; the administrator can choose to try to keep parts of the company operating or sell off the brands, shutting down the company. The company said it will announce later today which of its Irish and U.K. subsidiaries will be put into administration.

The New York Times announced it would sell display advertising on its front page, its latest step to seek new ways to make money; the first ad appears at the bottom of today’s front page, Reuters reported. The ad is a rectangle across the bottom of the front page and is two-and-a-half inches high. A Times spokeswoman declined to say what the paper is charging for the ad and how much money the paper expects to bring in annually for the space. USA Today, a property of Gannett Co. Inc., also runs front-page ads.

The 2009 Book of Lists unveiling party, hosted by Bankers Trust Co., will be held Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Des Moines Club, 666 Grand. Ave. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvres will be served prior to the unveiling, which will take place at 6 p.m. Business Publications LLC Publisher Janette Larkin and Suku Radia from Bankers Trust will speak on behalf of the publication, and free copies of the newest Book of Lists will be distributed.